May 2017 Newsletter

START WHERE YOU ARE, USE WHAT YOU HAVE, DO WHAT YOU CAN. . . TO BREAK THE STIGMA:

SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY – HELPING LOW INCOME YOUTH IMAGINE COLLEGE
While free or discounted early college credit makes college more affordable, some students in college-level (dual credit) classes never register for the college credit. Why are they missing this opportunity? For low-income students, the belief that college is outside of the realm of affordability can lead to dismissing college as an option without ever looking at actual costs; they assume there is no point in bothering when attending college seems impossible.

Recently, SOU Pre-College staff have broken down this assumption of unaffordability to create a sense that post-secondary achievement is indeed possible for low-income students. They’ve accomplished this by . . .read more

CREATING SAFE SPACES AND HEALING HARM WITH RESTORATIVE PRACTICES IN ROGUE VALLEY SCHOOLS
Most simply put, restorative justice in schools is about building and repairing relationships. The practice of proactively convening community-building circles gives students a voice in their classroom and school community. Caring and competent teachers, other adults, or staff from Resolve (Center for Dispute Resolution and Restorative Justice) facilitate dialogue using prompts that support the development of secure and respectful relationships while enhancing the sense of community.

In the event of student to student conflict or harm, hurtful classroom disruptions, or broken promises or behavior agreements, responsive circles are convened to make things right, process grief, or. . .read more

PETER BUCKLEY ADVISING GOVERNOR, DEBBIE VOUGHT JOINS SOUTHERN OREGON SUCCESS
Southern Oregon Success Program Manager Peter Buckley has been asked by Governor Kate Brown to serve as a part-time policy adviser on transformation and budget stability. He is temporarily moving to part-time status with Southern Oregon Success to accommodate the work of the governor’s office. As a result, Debbie Vought, former educator and director of Citizens for Safe Schools, has joined our team to help Peter keep our important work driving forward.

Peter served in the legislature for 12 years from 2005 to 2012, including 8 years as House Co-Chair for the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. He is temporarily moving to part-time status with Southern Oregon Success to accommodate the work the Governor’s office.. . .read more

As a dedicated educator, Table Rock Elementary Principal Jose deJesus Melendez always understood that trauma, toxic stress, or, as we now call it, adverse childhood experiences, could disrupt a child’s development and ability to learn. What he didn’t realize was how deep and wide the research on this subject was or what a tremendous effort was being made by the Southern Oregon Success Initiative to share this knowledge with so many community partners. “This is exactly the work we need to do here!”

When asked if he considers himself a trauma survivor, Principal Melendez agrees that he does. Having been born and raised in a very rural part of Mexico, . . read more

ACEs and THE SELF-HEALING COMMUNITY INITIATIVE
The expanded Southern Oregon ACEs Training team has reached a milestone of having trained over 4,000 people in our region, across all sectors, since the program was launched a year ago. The team is on pace to reach thousands more by the end of 2017. Recent sessions of note include two presentations and workshops with staff members of Goodwill Industries, as well as a series of trainings for all schools in the Three Rivers School District.

In May, the team is providing sessions for the Rogue Workforce Partnership in both Grants Pass and Medford, students in the SOU Psychology Department, and a number of other schools and organizations. Discussions are also underway to provide district-wide trainings for the Medford School District beginning in August.

As always, training sessions are offered to all groups at no cost, thanks to the support of AllCare, Jackson Care Connect, PrimaryHealth and other local partners. It’s also important to acknowledge the generous contributions from Kairos, Head Start, Jackson County Mental Health and the Grants Pass School District for providing the time and support over the past year for staff to participate as trainers on an ongoing basis. If you are interested in more information, and would like to schedule an ACEs training, please contactpeter_buckley@southernoregonsuccess.org.

KAIROS OFFERING COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING (CPS) TRAINING
Kairos will be hosting a three-day Tier 1 Collaborative Problem Solving training July 10-12 with limited space for attendees from community organizations who have a desire to understand and implement the approach. This is an internal training for Kairos staff, but Kairos makes it a practice to offer extra (open) seats. There is no cost for the training itself (normally $250/person), but there are nominal costs for food and beverages (continental breakfast, coffee and afternoon breaks) over the three days ( $40 per person), and a $25/person fee for CEUs, if desired. These fees must be paid in advance.

Kairos asks that those attending the training view a one-hour video that provides an overview of CPS, or attest to having previously attended an Introduction to Collaborative Problem Solving session.

An application is required. The application will be sent out to the SORS list within a week of this newsletter, and will have instructions as to how to apply.

KEY LEADERS EVENT COMING JUNE 26th
The bi-annual Southern Oregon Success Key Leaders event will be held on Monday, June 26, 2017, at the Inn at the Commons, Medford, Oregon. Check-in, networking, and continental breakfast begin at 8:00a.m. and the event will conclude by noon.

June’s event will provide leaders with a glance back, a look forward, and some concrete tools and ideas for trauma-informed practice. The glance back will review key concepts learned at previous Key Leaders’ events to consolidate our understanding and hone the community’s common language around ACEs, brain development and SELF-Healing Communities. Our look forward will begin by discussing how we create resiliency in the people, places, programs and policies we encounter every day. We’ll hear from practitioners in the field about progress changing the culture and practices in their respective disciplines, and we’ll convene in small groups for important conversation about identifying and using our most fundamental resiliency tools . Oh, and we’ll also talk about mindfulness and mirror neurons. . .don’t know much about mindfulness and mirror neurons? Then you definitely don’t want to miss this opportunity for learning and networking with your SORS collective impact partners. Please watch your e-mail for a calendar invite, e-mail Debbie Vought at Debbie_vought@southernoregonsuccess.org or call 541-776-6766 to RSVP or obtain more information.

GRANTS PASS IS GOING BLUE
Congratulations to Grants Pass community stakeholders for catching the attention of the Blue Zones Project https://oregon.bluezonesproject.com/! Grants Pass will now join Klamath Falls and a handful of other communities around the state as part of the Blue Zones supported Oregon Healthiest State Initiative. We applaud the remarkable leadership, readiness and motivation that has positioned Grants Pass for this honor! We look forward to seeing all the good work to come from this project designed to improve the health, vitality and well-being of children, families and citizens in Grants Pass.